To Be Mona

Reader reviewed by Yan

After digesting this book for a couple of hours, my opinion of the book is still (insert heavy silence here). I really am not too sure what to think of the book. Was it fabulous? Not really. Was it horrendous? Nope. So where does that leave it? Smack dab in the middle of what the heck did I just read?

It had a great base, a wonderful foundation, if it only kept going. The premise of the book has been done quite many times before so I looked forward to how the author executed the plot and how she morphed it to something of her own. Only I felt that she headed into the wrong direction. Yes, trying to capture the realistic teenage emotion is good; however when you characterize someone completely solely on appearance and how popular they are, you will not gain any emotional supportfrom me and hopefully from any other readers.

Sage was too focused on the perfect appearance, to be perfect like Mona. Some have even called her shallowwhich I cannot completely disagree. Almost every female teen character was shallow in a sense. But if the author had delved fully into the relationship of Vern, she might have created a scenario where Sage develops. Or into the relationship of her mother creating emotional depth. In reality, however, she skimmed both topics leaving me dumbfounded as to why even bring both topics then.

Roger is&an idiot to put it lightly. Not in the sense where I hate his guts, okay maybe I do, but more of his traits that made him an idiot. He is the all American football playing, horny boy, career goalcop, talking shit with friends, living with his mother forever, type of guy. I just could not see what Sage saw in him! Wait, I think I do understand. His social status but of course. Even as the story progresses, Sage does not appear to be phased by his more than kiss attitude, in the aspect of actually trying to stop him. Only when he actually tries to really force her does she see the light. Dense, thus is Sage or the idiocy to create such a false image of someone. Narrow-mindedness? Stupidity? Or naïve? You be the judge.

Mona was well, nowhere to be seen. More of the idea of her, her essence, of what she represents, is played in the novel. She, herself, comes in for like 3 lines. And she is of course, pretty, nice, and smart all rolled into one. She ticks me off&only because in the sparing 3 lines, she ends up crying because Sage did not want to go to her house. Pathetic! I mean, it is okay to not get your way at least once! Anyone have a spare backbone? Anyway moving on&

The ending was abrupt. Non-cohesive, and leaving so many unanswered questions. For one thing, whatever happened to Vern! Ill just leave it there. But I am still dumbfounded to this point about the ending.

Overall: If the book still sounds interesting, borrow this from the library first!

Reader reviewed by Hillary

Sage wants to be just like Mona. Gorgeous, popular, without the crazy mother, lack of money, or extra pounds. So, she beings to diet and exercise as well as get some blond highlights and throw away all her black clothes. She transforms herself, piece by piece. Though Sage believes that no one likes her, there is one person, Vern. Vern is her best friend and neighbor and he loves her just the way she is. Unfortunately Sage wants the popular jock, Roger. But when he starts to return the feeling, Sage begins to question if this is really what she wanted.

This book was really hard to get into. The beginning was slow and a bit confusing. The story is told through rotating narrators. Sage, Vern, and then Wal-Mart (aka Walter) with the occasional Roger thrown in for additional insight. The book focused on a few major issues, mainly bipolar disorders, abuse relationships, and the torture that is commonly referred to as high school. Though the title is To Be Mona, I don't think that Sage really was trying to be like her but rather to be liked and more popular. I think that this is a great book if you want to learn more about bipolar disorders, but I'd recommend waiting for paperback because I don't think it's worth the $20 you'd spend on it.